Metal is a music genre often associated with a lot of aggression which makes sense given the heavy electric guitar riffs, the loud and bassy screaming vocals and the nature of metal concerts as a whole. Due to the rowdiness from the music and the testosterone-fueled mosh pits at metal shows, it’s typically believed that metal is a man’s music genre. However, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
From female blues and rock singers of old like Janis Joplin and Stevie Nicks to the powerhouse metal frontwomen of today such as Amy Lee of Evanescence and Maria Brink of In This Moment, women have made a massive impact on the metal scene just as much as their male counterparts.
Growing up listening to metal and rock music, of course I enjoy the sounds of male-fronted bands and artists. Even though I love the music and understand the emotions coming from the lyrics, I find myself never truly connecting with some male-led bands because some of their songs are purposefully made for men.
This is not to say that I can’t relate to certain bands or like certain bands just because some of their songs are intended to get a man’s testosterone going. For example, “Walk” by Pantera and “Bat Country” by Avenged Sevenfold are bangers and I’ll sing along or bang my head to them given the chance. However, the lyrics don’t connect with me because they’re targeting a male audience, which is most of the metal music fanbase.
This is why I’m so ecstatic seeing female-led metal bands and artists becoming more popular in the metal scene. In September of this year, Amy Lee collaborated with Poppy and Spiritbox frontwoman, Courtney LaPlante to make their song, “End of You.” Lee begins the song with her hauntingly beautiful vocals then Poppy jumps in and right as the breakdown hits, LaPlante comes in with her powerful guttural vocals. This song is not only amazing, but it’s a spotlight and testament to women in the metal scene.
Some of my favorite metal bands are female-led including the aforementioned Spiritbox who made, I believe, to be the best metal album of the year with “Tsunami Sea”. Courtney LaPlante has an incredible vocal range that elevates just about every song in Spiritbox’s catalogue. My favorite songs of theirs are “Soft Spine”, “Black Rainbow” and “Cellar Door”.
Another one of my favorite female-led metal bands is In This Moment. I remember seeing In This Moment in concert in 2023 when In This Moment co-headlined “The Kiss of Death” tour with Ice Nine Kills. I was in awe with the production value that the band used for their performance. Maria Brink is an incredible and powerful frontwoman with a creative stage presence to complement her strong and hypnotic vocal range. My favorite songs by In This Moment are “The In-Between”, “Sick Like Me” and “Blood”.
Two of my other favorite female-led bands are from other places in the world, those being: Jinjer and Babymetal.
Jinjer is a Ukrainian metal band fronted by the powerhouse vocalist, Tatiana Shmayluk. Shmayluk’s vocals are a force to be reckoned with from her angelic clean vocals to her powerful gutturals that give Jinjer that groove metal edge that they’re known for. My favorite songs from Jinjer are: “Somebody’s Daughter”, “Pisces” and “Perennial”.
Babymetal hails from Japan and includes three frontwomen, Su-Metal, Moametal and Momometal. Babymetal is a fun band to listen to because each member has such a great vocal range that gives the dance pop beats to their songs a metal blended edge to them. Not to mention, their recent album, “Metal Forth” has some awesome collaborations with other bands including Poppy, Spiritbox and Electric Callboy just to name a few. My favorite songs by Babymetal are, “Gimme Chocolate!!”, “BxMxC” and “METALI!!”
Of course, I can’t talk about female-led metal bands without mentioning the nu-metal queen herself, Amy Lee. Evanescence is truly special because in an era in the early 2000s where nu-metal was majorly male dominated, Evanescence truly broke the glass ceiling when it came to making numbers and records in the nu-metal scene at the time. Evanescence is an awesome band and a pioneer for the aforementioned female-led bands previously mentioned and that credit is all given to the iconic frontwoman, Amy Lee. My favorite songs from Evanescence are, “Haunted”, “Imaginary” and “Sweet Sacrifice”.
Even now, Evanescence stands the test of time in terms of their relevance and iconography. After several teasers from their social media accounts, Evanescence announced that they will be headlining a world tour accompanied by Spiritbox, Poppy, Nova Twins and K. Flay. This is a dream come true of a tour because not only is Evanescence coming back to the states for another tour, but the other bands in this tour are also female led.